Something that makes everyone at aBlogtoWatch happy is when we are genuinely impressed by an inexpensive watch. The wristwatch collecting hobby certainly has price points for all budget levels, but the tendency is to reach for at least a few thousand dollars when searching for an interesting and innovative timepiece. Outside of special situations from high-volume manufacturing brands like Casio, we almost never see spirited and novel watches costing just a few hundred dollars. These do exist, but they are rare. That’s probably a rather positive way to start a review article on the Prevail Onward Future Field watches, a novel family of modern-looking military-style field watches that all have a price point of just $275 USD.
For that money, you not only get a well-made watch with a fun design but also useful specs like a sapphire crystal, 200 meters of water resistance, and a Swiss Made movement. Not too shabby. Most important to me, the Prevail Onward Future Field watches aren’t boring, either. They could have easily made a watch with this package that has a more retro style, copying the many other companies who make budget field-style timepieces. Prevail rejects that idea and wants to make an enthusiast-grade design that imagines the classic field-style watch with a more modern look. Even so, the core wearing dynamics and features are still very much rooted in classic military infantry timepieces.
As of this writing, Prevail makes the Onward Future Field watch with two dial styles (each with their own bezel design), each in three different colors. All models share a bead-blast-finished steel case that is 39mm wide at the bezel, 42mm wide including the flanks, 11mm thick, and with a modern 47.5mm lug-to-lug distance. The look seems to be a modern incarnation of the metal General Purpose watch from Marathon, a company that makes watches still issued to some military and government personnel. That means a relatively wide, flat base that tapers up to the bezel and has a narrow face opening compared to the actual full diameter of the case. It means the watch feels both small and large at the same time, but it wears quite petitely, overall. Even if the dial is on the narrower side, it is very legible and relatively clean despite the somewhat stylized hour markers and hands.
The case is a real thing of beauty, not only in the finishing and shape but also in the interesting little details such as the horizontal line texturing on the caseback. These lines visually match the texturing of the one-piece nylon strap, offering a level of design cohesion you aren’t expecting to see in a military-style timepiece. The strap is on the simpler side, for sure, but it is comfortable and totally decent for the money. Once again, the case is water resistant to 200 meters with a screw-down crown, and I find it visually compelling and comfortable to wear on my wrist.
I mentioned above that Prevail makes two dial styles for the Onward Future Field watch, which the brand calls the “Explorer” (with some hour numerals) and the “Tactical” (with only geometric hour markers). Those are further made in “compass green,” “shovelhead” brown, and “standard black” colors. The dials have applied outer rings that hold the hour markers (an efficient way of making a highly shock-resistant face), and luminous paint is used for both the hands and hour markers. Dial text is kept to a minimum, which is nice. Overall, the dials are very legible, visually attractive, symmetrical, and fresh-looking. This is very hard to do in an original way, especially at this price point. In other words, the Prevail Onward Future Field pieces do not come across as rookie designs at all, even though this is a new company. Inside the watch is a Swiss Ronda caliber 513 quartz movement.
According to Prevail, 10% of the profits from its sales go to a charity organization known as Heart & Armor, designed to assist American veterans, mainly through various forms of health care. I’ll let folks explore more about that on the Prevail website, but, interestingly, the brand is focused on a “feel good” marketing element as well as being responsible for some pretty decent modern field watches. While few timepieces are perfect, Prevail’s Onward Future Field watches are a great mixture of fun, utility, design, and value. They might not be for all tastes or styles, but for those people who like what Prevail has done here, the Onward Future Field Explorer and Tactical watches are not likely to let them down. Price for each is $275 USD. For more information, please visit the Prevail Watches website.
Necessary Information:
>Brand: Prevail
>Model: Onward Future Field Explorer and Tactical watches
>Price: $275 USD
>Size: 42mm wide, 11mm thick, 47.5mm long lug-to-lug distance
>When reviewer would personally wear it: As an interesting and fashionable modern-style military field watch when the situation calls for it.
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Tool watch lovers interested in a new take on a classic timepiece concept (at a very affordable price)
>Best characteristic of watch: It manages to be novel but also familiar-looking. Good looking and comfortable case. Very legible dials. Good value for money.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Size of dial appears small when compared to the actual case size. Straps are simple and cannot be easily replaced by third-party options.
